Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Does anyone here work at a "traditionally ambitious" job? (self.Blind)
submitted by [deleted]
I asked a post a few days ago asking if there is a support group for professionals. It seemed like the answer is no, and I just wanted to explain my thinking.
I have looked at various career support websites and groups. It seems like they always promote job placements into IT, various roles at *other* disability-related organizations, and "disability compliance officer"/"disability design officer"/etc at large companies. Those are great achievements, but it does signal to me that there is an "ambition ceiling" limiting me. Like, my definition of success should be "have a stable well-paying job" not "have a prestigious career."
I'm not trying to knock anyone down. I love each of you as fellow brave human beings. But I also have a particular vision for myself, and I don't want it limited by my disability. I'm thinking of starting a support group, and I'm wondering if anyone out there works at a "traditionally ambitious" job. I'm not going to define that term, because it's loaded with preconceptions. But I generally mean people with jobs like:
* Management consultant at McKinsey/Deloitte/BCG
* Investment banker at Charles Schwabs/Goldman Sachs
* Lawyerat PwC/EY/top 4 law firm
* Staffer at the Capitol Building for a congressman
Thanks!
I have looked at various career support websites and groups. It seems like they always promote job placements into IT, various roles at *other* disability-related organizations, and "disability compliance officer"/"disability design officer"/etc at large companies. Those are great achievements, but it does signal to me that there is an "ambition ceiling" limiting me. Like, my definition of success should be "have a stable well-paying job" not "have a prestigious career."
I'm not trying to knock anyone down. I love each of you as fellow brave human beings. But I also have a particular vision for myself, and I don't want it limited by my disability. I'm thinking of starting a support group, and I'm wondering if anyone out there works at a "traditionally ambitious" job. I'm not going to define that term, because it's loaded with preconceptions. But I generally mean people with jobs like:
* Management consultant at McKinsey/Deloitte/BCG
* Investment banker at Charles Schwabs/Goldman Sachs
* Lawyerat PwC/EY/top 4 law firm
* Staffer at the Capitol Building for a congressman
Thanks!
codeplaysleep 7 points 1y ago
Your examples don't sound appealing to me at all. I read the list and all I can think is "those jobs would be way more stress than they're worth." I wouldn't want to do any of that work if I had perfect vision.
I'm a senior engineer, probably moving into a management position soon at a rapidly growing company of about 150 people. I love my job and I love being successful at it. I live comfortably and I'm proud of the career I've built, but I have priorities that matter more to me than work.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with having those ambitions or those career goals, and I certainly think if you want to do that, you should, and don't let. your vision loss stop you. But there are other ways to measure success than your job title or the size of your paycheck.
I'm a senior engineer, probably moving into a management position soon at a rapidly growing company of about 150 people. I love my job and I love being successful at it. I live comfortably and I'm proud of the career I've built, but I have priorities that matter more to me than work.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with having those ambitions or those career goals, and I certainly think if you want to do that, you should, and don't let. your vision loss stop you. But there are other ways to measure success than your job title or the size of your paycheck.
EffectiveYak0 7 points 1y ago
I went to law school and ended up practicing law for about four years before I switched careers to tech. Two years into my new tech career I went blind. However, I was able to pick myself up and keep going. I'm pretty happy right now as a devops site reliability engineer. Working with computers is probably one of the most accommodating careers.
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Honestly OP I would caution you from focusing on prestige over things that you're truly interested in. But also don't let vision impairment keep you from doing things you mentioned. You can do it if you put your mind to it. Some might be harder than others. I can tell you that law probably is middle of the road in terms of difficulty. It requires a lot of reading, but I'm fairly sure Westlaw and Lexis are mostly accessible.
Whatever you do just be great and you'll go far. Hope this helps.
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Honestly OP I would caution you from focusing on prestige over things that you're truly interested in. But also don't let vision impairment keep you from doing things you mentioned. You can do it if you put your mind to it. Some might be harder than others. I can tell you that law probably is middle of the road in terms of difficulty. It requires a lot of reading, but I'm fairly sure Westlaw and Lexis are mostly accessible.
Whatever you do just be great and you'll go far. Hope this helps.
napoleon88 6 points 1y ago
lawyer here. Not at a top 5 but at a solid mid level UK national practice. I think limiting to the elite of the elite is probably too narrow for what you want to create. Partially because its too small a pool realistically and also because those guys don't have the time to join a support network, nor do they need one.
BlindBear902 5 points 1y ago
A better idea that everyone could benefit from would be a group for all members of the community who want to be involved in talking about investing or starting companies . There are so many people who are intelligent and are stuck being on disability because of lack of opportunity and resources. Your post was so pompous it aggravated me.
LilacRose32 3 points 1y ago
I’m an accountant at one of the big 4.
I have faced a number of issues related to promotion/progression
I have faced a number of issues related to promotion/progression
SoapyRiley 3 points 1y ago
I’m a Supervisory Principal at a major brokerage firm. I just got back to work after my vision loss but still have it in my 5 year plan to make it to assistant Vice President. I prefer training over compliance enforcement, so I may decide to detour into HR for a bit to focus on accessibility/disability inclusion issues just because that means a lot to me as a multiply-disabled person. It will probably just depend on which opportunity presents itself first and how bad the the software interaction with my screen reader is as I dive further into my original work.
HeftyCryptographer21 3 points 1y ago
not me personally, but as a Deafblind person, I loved reading about $1.
bonouser826 3 points 1y ago
I have a friend who works in accessibility for the Library of Congress testing their sites. This is still tech, but it's a pretty prostegious job. I also have a friend who is a lawyer. I agree these sound stressful, but there's no reason why anyone couldn't go for the kinds of jobs you listed.
[deleted] [OP] 2 points 1y ago
[deleted]
BlindBear902 2 points 1y ago
Yeah there is just not a demand for that of group. I'm sure there are people in those roles with visual impairments but I'm talking a very low percent most people who have those jobs have been groomed as a child for success and don't need support groups and have plenty of social connections to guide them to success. Most of the people on here are lucky to have a job and a good number are not employed. You could find plenty of AA groups or divorce groups with sighted people in the fields you are thinking about being apart of . Remember this people are not defined for what there job title is at the end of the day you are just a number and find what you love to do. Everyone is easily replaceable and there is low loyalty in those fields you mentioned above.
[deleted] [OP] 2 points 1y ago
[deleted]
[deleted] [OP] 1 points 1y ago
Has she ever considered taking on a mentoring role (not asking for me. Just trying to figure out how to establish one IRL)
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